Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger celebrated a series of successes in the 2023 General Assembly. Raffensperger saw his priorities passed overwhelmingly by both the House of Representatives and state Senate through this session and on its final day Wednesday.
“This is my fifth General Assembly as Secretary of State, and I count it as one of our most successful,” said Raffensperger. “We passed protections for seniors, got resources to improve licensing to get more people to work and get more nurses providing care, and we have made continued investments to make our already great, voter-centered elections, even better.”
The Senior Protections from Exploitation Against Retirees (SPEAR) Act, SB84, sponsored by Senator Chuck Hufstetler with support of the Secretary’s Securities Division will provide new tools to protect seniors from having their money stolen by grifters, con artists, and criminals. Since COVID, there has been a steady increase in this activity that can have a devastating effect on families.
“The SPEAR Act will provide financial institutions the ability to delay transactions involving the accounts of elderly and at-risk Georgians,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “This proactive measure against fraud is my key legislative priority of this session. I am grateful for its overwhelming passage and look forward to Governor Kemp signing it into law.”
In the area of licensing, more analysts for the Professional Licensing Board have been provided that will increase the speed at which licenses can be issued. Since taking office, Raffensperger has overseen a massive increase in the number of licenses issued and renewals obtained. That increase is most notable in the area of nursing where there have been over 65,000 new nurses added to the workforce since January of 2019.
“Getting people to work as quickly as possible is our goal,” continued Raffensperger. “I am pleased we have these additional resources to help Georgians…
Read the full article here
